


You two deserve each other

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loving Em at 2AM [36]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alec Lightwood Loves Magnus Bane, Arguing, Boys In Love, Cuddling, Cute Max Lightwood-Bane, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage, Married Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Protective Alec Lightwood, Slice of Life, They're all married, they're all in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: In the middle of the room, sitting on the sofa with matching frowns on their faces, were Jace and Magnus. The two grown men were pouting, turned as far away from each other as was physically possible given the situation they had somehow found themselves in. That was to say, with their hands clearly stuck together, palms and fingers and all.And in front of them, sitting on the coffee table with a wide grin on his face, was Max. It took Alec less than two seconds to understand what had happened and, when he did, a smirk curled at his lips. He winked at Max dramatically when his son turned to look at him, then let his gaze stray towards his huffy-looking husbands. Their eyes lit up when they spotted him, and Alec realised they were counting on him to separate them.Or: Max doesn't like it when his fathers argue and decides to take matters into his own hands.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Series: Loving Em at 2AM [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764400
Comments: 6
Kudos: 110





	You two deserve each other

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatnerdemryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/gifts).



> title is from in the heights' 'enough'

Having a child was an experience that Alec had both dreaded and looked forward to more than anything in his life. So when after months of looking for the perfect child, Max had – literally – shown up on their doorstep, Alec couldn’t have been happier.

Their son was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him. Max was a wonderful child, full of energy and joy and almost constantly smiling, and Alec couldn’t have loved him more. A year after adopting him, the blue warlock was the brightest star in the Lightwood-Bane family, and Alec couldn’t imagine his life without him.

His husbands, of course, felt the same way. Magnus had been delighted to have another warlock around and was trying his best to teach Max everything there was to know about magic. Jace had been just as happy – although the excitement had been mixed with an unhealthy dose of fear and insecurities – and had started secretly training Max to be a shadowhunter when Magnus and Alec weren’t looking (or so he thought).

All in all their family was perfect, and Max was only getting smarter and smarter by the day. He was getting so smart, in fact, that he could spot arguments from a mile away.

With two people like Jace and Magnus in a relationship, sparks flew at least once a week. It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other, because they really did, but they were both stubborn men who refused to admit when they were wrong. There had been fights about cleaning up, about closets, about surprise parties, about anniversaries… Sometimes, Alec felt like he was the constant mediator to their endless fights.

So when Max started helping him out, he was delighted. He had always suspected their son was smarter than he let on, but he hadn’t been sure of it until their blueberry started using what little magic Magnus had taught him to stop arguments between his two brasher dads.

It begun with small things, like spilling his drink over to divert their attention onto him or doing something out of the ordinary that would make Magnus coo about his talented son rather than yell at Jace for forgetting to put his socks in the washer _again_. Every time Max stopped a fight, Alec rewarded him discreetly, which only lead to more exploits on his son’s part.

He was delighted; his husbands not so much. However, Alec felt like his husbands could learn a lot from their non-confrontational son, just as they could learn a lot from their relationships with _him_. After all, if Magnus and Jace could stay calm around Alec, why couldn’t they do the same around each other?

Unfortunately for all of them, even Max’s interventions didn’t stop the men’s tendency to scream and throw things when upset or frustrated. Alec had been about to give up and accept the fact that his husbands would always be louder and slightly more reckless than most people, when Max did the impossible and fixed things for them in his own way.

It happened one night when Alec was stuck at the Institute late, finishing up on paperwork and making sure that the patrols for the next day had been organised. He came home exhausted and ready to cuddle up with his husbands but was instead greeted by another sight altogether.

As soon as he stepped into the loft, he knew something was different. The lights were on, for one, which meant his husbands were still awake – for some reason. More importantly, Max’s bedroom door was wide open, which meant their son hadn’t been put to bed yet.

And then he walked into the living room, and everything started making sense.

In the middle of the room, sitting on the sofa with matching frowns on their faces, were Jace and Magnus. The two grown men were pouting, turned as far away from each other as was physically possible given the situation they had somehow found themselves in. That was to say, with their hands clearly stuck together, palms and fingers and all.

And in front of them, sitting on the coffee table with a wide grin on his face, was Max. It took Alec less than two seconds to understand what had happened and, when he did, a smirk curled at his lips. He winked at Max dramatically when his son turned to look at him, then let his gaze stray towards his huffy-looking husbands. Their eyes lit up when they spotted him, and Alec realised they were counting on him to separate them.

His husbands were usually smart, but they also underestimated how annoyed Alec was by their constant arguing.

He ignored them completely as he entered the room fully, instead taking Max into his arms as soon as he let go of his briefcase. His son bounced happily in his arms, pressing a sloppy kiss onto his cheek, and looping his arms around Alec’s neck.

“Dada! Papa ‘n Daddy being naughty, so I poofed ‘em!”

Alec chuckled softly at his son’s vocabulary. Clary and Simon had showed him one of their ridiculous mundane movies in which the characters could vanish from sight with a wave of their hands, and Max had used the inaccurate expression ever since that day.

“I can see that,” he murmured, kissing his son’s head and heading into the boy’s bedroom without so much as a glance in his lovers’ direction. He could hear their indignant spluttering behind him but didn’t pay them any mind. It was three hours past Max’s bedtime, and they had a lot of explaining to do. Although… “Maxie, what exactly were Daddy and Papa doing?”

“Were ar- ar- _arguing_ ,” Max said proudly, waving his hands around wildly to celebrate his tiny success over the English language. “’n I don’t want ‘em to argue.”

Alec nodded seriously, easily understanding what message his son was trying to get across. He had stuck Magnus and Jace together and had probably been waiting for them to make up. When they had failed to do so, he had left them to deal with their problem alone. Once again, Alec was struck by how clever and ingenious his son could be.

“I don’t like it when they argue either,” he whispered. “You did good, Maxie. I’m sure Daddy and Papa will understand what you were trying to do once they’re not so angry at each other. I promise I’ll make things okay.”

“’lways,” Max yawned. Alec smiled lovingly at the small warlock.

“Yes,” he agreed under his breath. “I’ll always make sure things are okay, especially when it comes to you. We’ll all be fine, I promise. Your daddies just need to figure things out and talk like adults. But Maxie? You did good with the magic. Thank you for helping me deal with them. You’re much too smart for your age.”

Max sent him one last sleepy smile before passing out in his arms, small snores coming out of him almost immediately. Alec looked at him softly for a few more minutes before pressing a kiss to his son’s cheek and tucking him under his covers. Max appeared even more blue against the white sheets, and Alec marvelled for a moment at how magical and beautiful his family was.

He didn’t linger, however, knowing he had bigger issues to deal with. Magnus and Jace were probably still on the couch, either glaring at each other or blaming the other for getting them stuck together in the first place. Alec wondered if, deep down, his husbands were aware of how childish and petty they became every time they were in the same room.

He loved them dearly, but they could be extremely immature when they wanted to be, and they definitely brought out the worst in each other. It was fine, since they also brought out the _best_ in each other, but it was still exhausting, especially for Alec.

He walked into the living room expecting a fight, or at least a death glare for refusing to help them immediately, but he was greeted by complete silence. He chanced a glance at the sofa, wondering if he had missed something or if his husbands had managed to untangle themselves after all, but all he found was Jace carding his fingers through Magnus’ hair as the warlock slept.

It _was_ quite late, and Magnus had had a busy day. Now that he thought about it, Alec wondered how he had managed to last so long. Maybe the anger had kept him awake, leaving Magnus completely drained once he worked it out of his system. Or maybe he had been waiting for Alec to come home and had let sleep claim him as soon as his second husband was in the room.

Whatever the reason, he was sleeping peacefully, and Jace didn’t seem too bothered by what had to be a rather uncomfortable position. Their joined hands were stuck between the two of them, and Alec winced sympathetically. Still, Jace didn’t try to move Magnus or shake him awake. Instead, he looked at Magnus with love and regret in his eyes, his features softening as they always did when he thought no one could see his vulnerability.

Even after years of being together, Alec’s parabatai struggled with his feelings, especially when it came to Magnus. Maybe it was because of how passionate they got, or maybe there were still some lingering insecurities the blond man had failed to tell them about. Whatever the reason, it meant Alec had to reprimand and comfort him every time Magnus and he got into a fight and refused to talk about it.

“Max was quite upset, you know?”

Jace’s head snapped up at Alec’s words, a guilty grimace making its way onto his face. If there was one thing they all hated, it was making Max sad. Their son was too precious and kind to have to suffer through their arguments and breakdowns and all the other nonsense they dealt with on a regular basis.

“I know,” Jace sighed. “We weren’t even… We were arguing over something stupid, and we should have let it go as soon as we noticed how much it was bothering Max, but you know how we get. Magnus is just so _him_ , and I’m so _me_ , and it was never going to end well. At least we got it out of our systems, right?”

Alec rolled his eyes and stepped towards his husbands, pressing a kiss to Magnus’ forehead before pecking Jace’s lips briefly. His younger husband’s lips chased after his and pouted when Alec only chuckled and shook his head, refusing to give in to Jace’s silent request for more.

“We need to get the both of you to bed,” he explained softly, not wanting to wake Magnus up. “I’m pretty sure this spell is going to hold through the night, so I can’t move him without moving you, and I’m not sure you can pick him up by yourself, so this is going to take the two of us.”

“I still can’t believe Max did this,” Jace grumbled, though his eyes were alight with mirth and admiration. The blond man absolutely _loved it_ when Max performed magic in front of them, and he would never complain about it, even when the spells had been cast at his expense. “I mean, I knew the arguing got on his nerves, but I didn’t really think-”

“No, you didn’t,” Alec confirmed, cutting his husband off before he could add anything else and lifting Magnus into his arms as elegantly as he could considering his arm was still linked to Jace’s hand. “You didn’t think, even though you should have. Max is old enough to start remembering these things, you know? And I’m certain the last thing you want is for your young son to recall all these petty arguments Magnus and you insist on having.”

“It’s a way for us to get things out of our system!” Jace defended himself, gesturing with his free arm and shuffling closely behind Alec towards their bedroom. “You know we’re both people who need a way to express our emotions, and fighting is the easiest solution to our problems.”

“Just because it’s the easiest solution doesn’t mean it’s the best one,” Alec retorted, already sick of this conversation. Jace is scrambling for excuses and they both know it. “I don’t care what you do when you’re alone, but for angel’s sake, stop fighting when Max is around. Scratch that, stop arguing when I’m around, too. I hate seeing the two of you bicker over stupid things, and I hate having to comfort the two of you simultaneously. I love you to pieces, Jace, but you should know better than to take your unresolved anger out on each other.”

Jace opened his mouth to say something else, but one warning glance from Alec was enough to shut him up. Instead, he followed him into the bedroom dutifully and helped him get Magnus settled as comfortably as possible. Alec was suddenly very glad his husband had elected to get into his pyjamas earlier that evening, because he wasn’t sure they would have gotten anywhere otherwise.

“Get into bed,” he ordered Jace, heading towards his dresser and throwing on an old shirt as quickly as possible. “And don’t you dare wake him up. I need to go brush my teeth but I’ll be back in five minutes. Try not to kill him before I come back, please.”

Jace huffed indignantly at Alec’s words but didn’t protest, his free hand once again settling in Magnus’ hair as he whispered sweet nothings to his sleeping husband. Really, those two were ridiculous.

They pretended like they couldn’t stand each other half of the time, but Alec had never met two people who loved each other more than those two did. Their relationship was perfect, and Alec wouldn’t give it up for the world. Yes, he would rather not have to deal with their mood swings and ridiculous behaviours, but he loved their flaws as much as he loved them. That was to say, infinitely.

By the time he made it into bed, ten minutes had passed and Jace was already dozing off, obviously too tired to make it through a conversation with Alec. The blond man probably knew Alec would talk to him the next day, but that could wait. It wasn’t like Alec was in a hurry to find out about his husbands’ latest argument.

“Good night, _amor_ ,” he whispered, leaning over Magnus to kiss Jace lightly. His husband hummed into their kiss, breathing in Alec’s scent before falling back against his pillow and losing himself in the land of dreams.

As soon as his eyes closed, Magnus’ opened. The warlock blinked sleepily for a few seconds before turning his gaze towards Alec, who only rolled his eyes at his husband’s antics. Of _course_ he had been waiting for Jace to fall asleep before adding something to the discussion. It was such a typical Magnus thing to do that Alec couldn’t even claim to be surprised or annoyed by it.

“You guys are absolute idiots,” he muttered, his breath ghosting against the shell of Magnus’ ear. His dark-haired husband shivered minutely and cuddled even closer to Jace, pulling Alec along with him. “You know things would be a lot easier if you just talked instead of fighting.”

“But they also wouldn’t be half as fun,” Magnus pointed out, smiling brightly at Alec. “Besides, you love our arguments.”

“Absolutely not,” Alec snorted, flicking Magnus’ nose playfully. “I love you in spite of your arguments, not because of them. And if you heard what I said to Jace, then you know I’m not the issue here. I never asked you guys to stay quiet when it was just the three of us, but-”

“But we have Max to think about now,” Magnus completed for him, sighing heavily. “I know. I promised myself I would try harder, especially since I’ve noticed how he always acts out and grabs our attention when Jace and I argue, but it’s not something we can change in a day. I love our little blueberry, but the three of us have been together for a lot longer than we’ve had him, and old habits die hard.”

“I know,” Alec murmured. “Hell, I know I still have a lot of things to work on when it comes to Max. I can’t ask you to transform overnight, but I’m glad to hear that you’ve been trying to work on this. It means a lot to me, and it’ll mean a lot to Maxie.”

“I know,” Magnus breathed out. “I’m sorry I haven’t been as good a dad as you clearly thought I would be.”

“Oh, Magnus,” Alec shook his head slowly, leaning in to kiss his husband and letting their noses brush against each other comfortingly. “You’re a better father than I could have ever imagined. You love Max with all your heart, you teach him all the magic he needs to know, and you make sure he always has everything he wants. Believe me, you’re an amazing father. Just because you’re not perfect doesn’t mean you’re bad, _cariño_ , it just means you can be an even better dad in the future.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course he thinks so,” Jace’s raspy voice interrupted them. Alec and Magnus turned towards him at once, taking in his bleary eyes and his loving smile. “You’re a wonderful father, Magnus, just like you’re an incredible husband. Even four-hundred-year old warlocks are allowed to be flawed, love.”

“Right,” Magnus murmured, blushing a dark red that Alec can spot even in the darkness of their room. If Jace’s delighted grin is anything to go by, he also noticed the effect his words had on their husband. “Well, you’re not so bad yourselves, my dears. I hit quite the jackpot in the husband department.”

“That you did,” Alec smiled. “And so did we. I love you.”

“We love you too,” Jace said softly, wrapping his arms around Magnus so his fingertips could brush against Alec’s stomach. It was one of their favourite positions to fall asleep in. “Now can we please go to sleep? You guys were keeping me awake with all your failed attempts at whispering.”

“I’ll have you know that-”

“Of course we can go to sleep,” Alec cut Magnus off with a sharp glare. His husband immediately settled down, nuzzling against Alec’s neck and nipping at the skin there gently. “Stop that, Magnus. And Jace, don’t even think about it. I swear, if either of you start tickling me, I’m sleeping on the couch.”

His husbands pouted at him but stopped moving, closing their eyes obediently when Alec raised his eyebrows at them. Cuddled together like this, Alec let go of the anxiety he had accumulated throughout the day and admired his husbands for a few more seconds before following them into blessed sleep.

It didn’t escape his notice that the magical glue between them had disappeared as soon as they had stopped arguing and started talking instead.

Max really _was_ a miracle worker.

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I've been wanting to write some Malace again ever since I tried my hand at their relationship a couple of weeks ago, and I really enjoyed this little piece of domesticity. It was inspired by a picture someone (maybe Morgan but I can't remember) on the Malec server posted, so thank you for the idea! I hope you guys liked it as well and, as always, sorry for any mistakes!
> 
> Love, Junie.
> 
> (find me on tumblr @hopesilverheart)


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